instead will just say where we are now and hope to do better. I really miss blogging but it has simply been beyond capabilities lately, mostly for technological reasons. But today the new netbook arrived and while I have hours of work ahead of me to try and get everything set up on it so it is fully operational I am able to blog from it so will try really hard to get back into the habit as I miss doing it and know I will miss having the record in years to come.
So… I was properly poorly for a while there, my cough just didn’t go away by itself and I was drained, exhausted and starting to get worried that a mainland hospital stay was ever increasingly on the cards. I was not sleeping, constantly coughing and wheezing and rattling and in real fear of as asthma attack or onset of pneumonia. Dr Google didn’t help (unsurprisingly!) and in the end I rang the doctor again and shared my worries and she sent me down to the village to collect the nebulizer from the castle to hook myself up three times a day to that. It took about 3 days but finally kicked in and I now have a brown inhaler which I am still taking a couple of times most days but I am now sleeping, have regained some strength and fitness and feel like me again. Don’t want to have that ever again!
In other news the tenants paid late again this month, only a couple of days but we chased them again and I am deeply unimpressed with both them and the agency. It is very much our intention to sell the house now really, it feels like a millstone and a nusiance rather than security and investment. I want to pay off the mortgage and our debts and fully throw ourselves into our new life here really. With Frazer now being very supported by Mum & Dad (Kat is pregnant, they are moving into the flat Dad bought as a quick turn around investment instead of it being sold on) Dad is less able to help us out and I want to be doing our own thing without begging for every extra thousand pounds each time. We have been in talks with Corin at EHOak about our plans for a house, investigated the crofting housing grant scheme criteria and Corin is preparing some drawings for various options for us to look at further. We are determined to only see out one winter in the static regardless so this is the first move towards making that all fall into place.
All continues to go well on Rum, the croft is moving forward although we need to get cracking on our crofting grant scheme application form to get part funding for polytunnel etc so we are ready to get growing come the spring. There remain challenges within the community and general wranglings and ups and downs which we inevitably get to hear of even if we are not necessarily involved. We’ve had Ranger Mike up for dinner, Kate Tattiehouse (Ian is off island this week) and been for dinner at Fliss & Sandy’s. They are off island for the rest of this week so we are collecting Fliss’ girls from the school boat on Friday and taking them back on Sunday and being their nominated grown ups while they are home alone for the weekend (they are 13 and 15 so very capable). I get to go and have a bath in the house tomorrow and Sunday 🙂
After some personal debate, discussion with Ady and sharing the initial idea with visiting friends I have put together a proposal for crowd funding to raise money for the compost loo. The guy we’ll buy it from has agreed to hold his price as they are about to go up AND donated £20 too :). Two different friends have already donated £50 each too so we are £120 closer to that happening in a cheerily short space of time. Various other friends have agreed to share it on facebook / twitter too so I can see that as a credible and okay way of getting funding sorted despite my reservations that I am just begging! I’m inspired anew after a chat with Kate tonight to start chasing some writing work too which would take off some financial pressure and make me feel ever more as though I am working towards realising our dreams.
I think that’ll do for a quick catch up. I have other stuff to try and plough through and it’s already gone tomorrow o’clock. But I am tentatively back 🙂